Artificial tree



Feb. 8, 1966 G. L. RAYMOND ETAL 3,234,073

ARTIFICIAL TREE Filed April 26, 1962 s Sheets-Sheet 1 Big? 5. A 40 @-/6 Gerald L. Ra ymond Mildred NVcm Horn INVENTORS Feb. 8, 1966 Filed April 26, 1962 G. L. RAYMOND ETAL ARTIFICIAL TREE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Hffy.

1965 G. L. RAYMOND ETAL 3,

ARTIFICIAL TREE Filed April 26, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 9*. Pi g 10 Fi 5F. 11

Gerald L. Raymond 50 Mildred N.V:m Horn INVENTORS Fig-.13. W

United States Patent 3,234,073 ARTIFICIAL TREE Gerald L. Raymond, 12224 Nyanza Road, Tacoma 99, Wash., and Mildred Nina Van Horn, Rte. 2, Box 480, Puyallup, Wash.

Filed Apr. 26, 1962, Ser. No. 190,406 3 Claims. (Cl. l6124) This invention relates to artificial trees. It pertains particularly to highly decorative artificial conifers of the class employed as Christmas trees.

It is the general object of the present invention to provide artificial trees, particularly artificial Christmas trees, which are characterized by being:

(1) Beautiful in appearance (2) Of large size (3) Easily assembled and disassembled (4) Stable, and not easily disarranged in use (5) Durable (6) Fireproof (7) Easily cleanable (8) Arrangeable into various configurations (9) Shockproof when used with electric lights In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a stem and base assembly for use in the construction of the herein described artificial trees;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a trunk cylinder for use in conjunction therewith;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the manner of dividing the trunk cylinder of FIG. 2 into segments;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view in plan, partly broken away, of a branch member or garland for use in forming branches to be attached to the trunk cylinder of FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are schematic plan views illustrating the manner of attachment of the branch members of FIG. 4 to the trunk cylinders of FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view, similar to FIGS. 5 and 6, but in elevation;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view in elevation of a first artificial tree assembly including the units of FIGS. 1 4;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view in elevation, similar to FIG. 8, but illustrating the construction and manner of assembly of a larger tree;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are fragmentary, enlarged, sectional views in elevation taken along lines 1tl-10 and 1111, respectively, of FIG. 9 and illustrating details of construction of the assembly of that figure;

FIG. 12 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 12-12 of FIG. 10; and

FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating schematically the appearance of the herein described artificial tree when completely assembled.

The artificial trees which are the subject of the present invention, and the manner of their construction and assembly, are best understood by reference to the method steps employed in their manufacture, as illustrated in the drawings.

In FIG. 1 there is illustrated a base and stem assembly suitable for use with the other components of the tree. The base 10 may be of any design, size and weight suitable for maintaining the erect position of the tree with which it is to be used. Its top is provided with a recess 12 designed to seat in frictional engagement the lower end of the stem.

The latter component of the assembly preferably is formed in two or more sections so that the tree may be disassembled for storage in a small package. Also, it

preferably is made from lengths of aluminum or plastic tubing, or other material which is light and strong.

Thus the stem may comprise a lower section 14 having a butt end dimensioned to be received in opening 12 of the base, and a stepped upper end 16 of reduced diameter dimensioned to telescope into the lower end of a second stern section 18. The upper end of section 18 remains open to receive the tip of the tree, as will appear hereinafter.

For use with the stem and base assembly of FIG. 1 there are provided trunk cylinders serving the functions of concealing and decorating the stem, while at the same time providing a suitable base for mounting securely the branches of the tree.

The trunk cylinders employed are illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. They are formed from lengths of tubing, prefer-ably from thick, compressible, hardboard tubes indicated at 20 in FIG. 2, having a bore such that they may he slid over the stem. These are wrapped spirally with a concealing, decorating cover 22 of fiberglass or plastic roving, or other suitable filamentous material.

For convenience of manufacture and assembly, it is preferred to divide tube 20 into segments. However, if the fiberglass covering 22 has been spiralled continuously about the tube, such a division obviously would result in unraveling of the cover.

Accordingly adhesive 24 is applied to the tube before, during or after wrapping with the fiberglass, after which the tube may be divided along the dotted lines indicated in FIG. 2 to form segments of the predetermined number and length as shown in FIG. 3. The division is made in the areas to which adhesive 24 has been applied, and thus unravelling of the filamentous covering is avoided. Where a tree of substantial height is contemplated, the trunk cylinder may be divided conveniently into five segments 26, 28, 30, 32 and 34, as shown in FIG. 3.

The trunk cylinder sections are designed to support a plurality of radiating branches arranged in a suitable pattern. Each branch comprises a wire or other stitfiy flexible member suitably decorated with decorative material. A preferred construction for the branch members is shown in FIG. 4.

In their preferred form, the branch members, indicated generally at 40, comprise a pair of stiflly flexible, intertwisted core wires 42. Radiating outwardly in all directions from the core wires are a multiplicity of fiberglass or other filaments 44. These may be dyed a suitable color and preferably are secured to the core wires by interlocking them between the spirals thereof during the twisting operation. Branch members 40 may be prepared in long lengths and then cut to segments of suitable size as required for a particular tree assembly.

Although the branch members may be secured to the trunk cylinder segments in various manner, it is preferred to secure them thereto using the method illustrated schematically in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. The practice of this method results in locking the branches securely to the trunk cylinders so that during assembly, use and disassemb'ly at repeated intervals over long periods of time, the branches remain securely in position. It also permits flexing and bending of the branches into desired patterns without dislodging them.

First the selected trunk cylinder, for example cylinder 26, which is to form the bottom segment of the tree of FIG. 8, is placed on a standard or upright peg 46 extending upwardly from a base 48 which is secured to the work bench. Branch members 49 then are bent centrally as shown in FIG. 5 and placed one on each side of trunk cylinder 26, in crossed relation, with their midsection opposite each other on opposite sides of the trunk cylinder.

The two branch members then are twisted together, manually or mechanically, as shown in FIG, 6. The

twisting is continued until thecentral portions of the branch members compress the cardboard cylinders, becoming partly embedded therein. This insures that they will not slip or become dislodged.

The two branch members accordingly become ,four branches which may be arranged radially about the trunk segments. As many branches may be located in a given area in this manner as are required to produce a whorl of the desired character. Thus, as shown in FIG. 7, a second pair of branch members may be twisted together about the trunk cylinder segment toform a whorl of 8 branches as shown in FIG. 7.

The-compressible cardboard trunk cylinders thus serve several important functions in the final product. First, they make possible embedding the branch wires in'the trunk, locking the branches securely in place- Second, they conceal andidecorate the metal stem segments 14, 18 and, being bulky pad the stem, so that a realistic and pleasing appearance is achieved. Third, they add to the sertngth of the assembly, an important factor in the construction of. large trees. Fourth, they serve aninsulating members 40, and attached to the trunk segments in the v manner illu'strated'in FIGS. 5-37.

function, electrically insulating. the branches from the trunk. As a result, it is possible touse electric lights'on the finished tree with safety.

Where -a.60 inch tree is contemplated, as in FIG.'8,

the trunk cylinder segments may be provided with whorls 50, 52 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, 70 of branches according to the following schedule,.the spacing indicated starting with the base and extending upwardly to thetop 1 ofthe tree.

Length of Branches, Inches Distance From Next Lower Unit (Inches) Whorl No. No. of

Branches The use of a hollow stern member 18, open at the upper end, facilitates the mounting of a suitable tip member to complete the tree assembly. Thus, there may be provided a st'opper 72 sizedfor insertionin the open end of, the stem. The stopper in turn supports a tip 74 which may comprise a suitable length of branch material 40.

The tips of the branches and the tip of the tree then may be concealed and decorated by dipping them first in adhesive and next in a suitable glittering flake material 75.

The components of the tree described above may be assembled into the final tree first by inserting stem;segment 14 into opening 12 of base 10. The upper stern segment 18 then may be telescoped overthereduced upper end 16 of segment 14 to form a supporting standard.

The. various trunk cylinder segments 26, 28, 30, 32,. and

p .34, with the branch whorls which they support, next may he slipped in turn over the standard, after which tip 74 a may be put in place. The branches then maybe bent and arranged as necessary to provide a tree of the desired .appearance and configuration.

Where a tree of greater height is. to be provided, th

foregoing arrangement may be modified as illustrated in FIGS. 9-12.

In the fabrication of this tree, use againis made of a standard assembly including -a base 10 and telescoping stem segments 14, 18, suchas are illustrated in FIG. 1 but of appropriately increased dimensions;

Similarly also the trunk of the tree is built up of segments, each of Whichcarries one or more whorls of branches formed ,from branch members such as'branch However, for greater support: and to make the appearance of the tree more natural, the trunk cylinder seg-,

.ments used in the lower. portion of the tree are of substantially increaseddiameter; Furthermore, rather than being closelyadjacent the stem members, as in the pre-. Y viously described embodiment, they are spaced apart therefrom by a substantial distance.

Thus the tree of FIG. 9 may be composed of three trunk cylinder segments 76, 78,- of enlarged diameter,

spaced from the stern; two superimposed trunkcylin'dersegments 82, :84 of restricted diameter, in sliding contact with the stem; and a tip 86 mounted in a stopper 8'8 f0 insertion in the open upper end of the stern,

The manner of spacing the enlarged trunkcylinders from the stem is illustrated particularly in FIGS. 10, .11 andl2.

Glued'to the. interior of the upper end of cylinder segment 76' is a cardboard or wooden sleeve v90 dimensioned to fit snugly withinthe cylinder segment: and havingfa bore dimensioned.to receivekstem member 14 in sliding engagement. The upper end of spacing sleeve 90 extends outwardly beyond trunk cylinder segment 76 to such av degree that the lower end of adjacent trunk cylinder-segment 78 may be telescoped over it.

A similarspacing sleeve 92 is fixed to the upper end of trunk cylinder segment 78, extending outwardly therefrom andteleseoping into the lower end of the adjacent cylinder segment 80.; The upperend ofthe latter segment and the lower end of segment 76 in turn are provided with spacingsleeves 94 similar to sleeves 90, 92 .but tor-- minating flush with theend of the segment.

Where a tree 80 inches high is contemplated, the .vari-.- 'ous trunk cylinder segments 76, 78, 80, '82 and-84 may be provided with .one, two, two, threeand three whorls of branches respectively arranged according tothe following schedule:

The manner of assembly of the tree .of FIG. 9 is the same as-that-of FIG. 8. First, stem segment 14 isplaced intbase 10 andsegment 18 telescoped over segment 14. 5

The trunk cylinder-branch assemblies 76','78;-80, :82, 84

are slipped in sequence over the stem; Tip '86 then is.

placed in position in the open top endcf'the stem' and the branches bent and arrangedas desired to form the final tree.

The appearance ofa typical tree havingthe construction described here istshown inFIG. 13. This is'drawn' highly decorative in appearance, stable :in construction,- easily assembledand disassembled, durable, fireproof,z

easily cleaned, and readily disassemblable into small compass for transportation and storage.

In addition the construction of the: tree is such that its 'variousparts are insulated electrically from eachiother 5 so that decorative electric lights may be used on it with safety.

It is tobe understood that the forms of our invention herein shown and described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of our invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. An artificial tree comprising:

(a) abase,

(b) a stern adapted to be secured at one end to the base and to extend upwardly therefrom,

(c) a hollow trunk cylinder adapted to be slipped over the stem in sliding contact therewith, and,

(d) a plurality of branches secured to the cylinder and arranged to simulate the appearance of a tree,

(e) the branches comprising pairs of decorated wire members, the midsections of the wire members of each pair being arranged one on each side of the trunk cylinder and intertwisted into gripping relation therewith, (f) each wire member comprising two wires spiralled together and locking between the spirals a multiplicity of radially extending decorative filaments. 2. The artificial tree of claim 1 wherein the decorative filaments are fiberglass filaments.

3. The artificial tree of claim 1 wherein the trunk cylinder is wound with fiberglass and wherein the decorative filaments are fiberglass filaments.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS ALEXANDER WYMAN, Primary Examiner.

HAROLD ANSHER, Examiner. 

1. AN ARTIFICIAL TREE COMPRISING: (A) A BASE, (B) A STEM ADAPTED TO BE SECURED AT ONE END TO THE BASE AND TO EXTEND UPWARDLY THEREFROM, (C) A HLLOW TRUNK CYLINDER ADAPTED TO BE SLIPPED OVER THE STEM IN SLIDING CONTACT THEREWITH, AND, (D) A PLURALITY OF BRANCHES SECURED TO THE CYLINDER AND ARRANGED TO SIMULATE THE APPEARANCE OF A TREE, (E) THE BRANCHES COMPRISING PAIRS OF DECORATED WIRE MEMBERS, THE MIDSECTIONS OF THE WIRE MEMBERS OF EACH PAIR BEING ARRANGED ONE ON EACH SIDE OF THE TRUNK CYLINDER AND INTERTWISTED INTO GRIPPING RELATION THEREWITH, (F) EACH WIRE MEMBER COMPRISING TWO WIRES SPIRALLED TOGETHER AND LOCKING BETWEEN THE SPIRALS A MULTIPLICITY OF RADIALLY EXTENDING DECORATIVE FILAMENTS. 